Meet the Chinese sports photographer still going strong at 79

Hong Nanli stands just 153 centimetres (5ft) tall and at 79 years-old this indefatigable grandmother is almost certainly the oldest working sports photographer in China, if not beyond.

It makes her a minor celebrity in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and macho and in which many of her peers are less than half her age.

But it is not just her fellow journalists who snap selfies with her at sports matches and press conferences. Players and coaches also often seek her out because she cuts such an incongruous figure.

When Shanghai Shenhua beat soccer rivals Shanghai SIPG over two legs to win the Chinese FA Cup in November, captain and Colombian international Giovanni Moreno plucked Hong from the sidelines and lifted her high into the air in celebration.

And when US basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal was in the city he took a selfie with Hong and posted it on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, writing: “This lady is a legend in Shanghai.”

Hong, who outside work leads an exercise class three times a week, is still working as a freelance photographer more or less full-time – extremely rare in a country where women usually retire before 55.